Mimeae: opportunistic pathogens.A review of infections in a cancer hospital

Abstract

Infections caused by bacteria of the tribe Mimeae were reviewed. Mima polymorpha or Herellea vaginicola was isolated by culture from 56 living patients and 9 autopsy cases, with pure cultures of these organisms from 11 living patients. Mimeae were found to be opportunistic pathogens with a highly variable degree of virulence. In 3 febrile patients, blood cultures yielded a pure growth of H. vaginicola, establishing the apparent pathogenicity of these organisms. Many of the infections were associated with an iatrogenic portal of entry, such as an intra-vascular catheter, with over half of the 18 wound infections occurring in head- and neck-surgery cases. Sodium colistimethate, kanamycin sulfate, methenamine mandelate, and polymyxin B sulfate were found to be the most effective therapeutic agents.